August 1, 2008

Hand, foot and mouth disease: Taman Melawati school under watch

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Pupils of SK Taman Melawati II are not in any immediate risk of contracting hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) despite four confirmed cases.
Selangor health director Dr Rosnah Hadis assured parents and the public that the situation was under control, adding officials were monitoring the school.
The first three cases of HFMD in the school were detected last week and two more were reported yesterday.
However, only one of the two cases reported yesterday was confirmed as HFMD.
“We’re aware of the situation. We have collected samples from the pupils and sent them to the laboratory for analyses,” Rosnah said yesterday.
She said health officials had taken precautionary steps to control and prevent the spread of the infectious disease.
The infected pupils, between 7 and 9 years old, are undergoing treatment and their parents have been told to keep them away from school until they have recovered fully.
Rosnah said there was no reason for the public to panic as the HFMD occurrence was “sporadic”.
Worried parents had contacted this newspaper, expressing their concern over the school’s allegedly lackadaisical approach to containing the disease.
“It seems that the school is not taking action. We were told that it is not a big issue and that we were blowing it out of proportion,” a parent, Sheila Devi, said.
Many parents have stopped sending their children to school, at least for a few days, as a precautionary move.
An official with the Gombak District Education Office said the school was working hard to prevent an outbreak.
“We do not have the authority to close the school. Only the Health Ministry has the authority,” the official said.